Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Keniston, Hon Jerry
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com September 7, 2007, 9:40 pm
Author: Genealogical & Biographical Record
HON. JERRY KENISTON. There is probably no citizen of Wilton Township who is
better known or who occupies a higher position in the confidence of associates
than does Mr. Keniston. During the Civil war he showed his patriotism by his
honorable service in the Union army and since then he has proven himself
equally active in civic affairs, giving his influence to aid measures for the
benefit of his community and taking his part as a public-spirited citizen in
progressive movements. During the three terms, beginning in 1870, that he
served as supervisor of Wilton Township, he participated personally in many
important measures for the benefit of the township; gaining, as a public
official, a name so creditable and a position so high that in 1878 he was
chosen to represent his district in the state legislature.
In that body, as in positions of lesser importance, he maintained a
reputation for integrity, energy and ability, and his service was not only
satisfactory to his own party (the Republican), but to his political opponents
as well. He has frequently represented his party as a delegate to conventions,
and has been a member of important committees.
Heredity having much to do with a man's success in life, it will be of
interest to review Mr. Keniston's ancestral history. His grandfather, Isaac
Keniston, a native of New Hampshire, immediately after his marriage to Deborah
Gray, removed with his bride to what is now Sheffield, Caledonia County, Vt.,
making the trip on horseback through the forests. He settled in a timbered
region and cleared a farm from the primeval wilds. During the Revolutionary
war he did his part to defend American interests and gain independence for our
country. His brother, David, who was born in the province of Maine, November
17, 1736, also served in the Revolution and was a member of the famous Boston
tea party in 1773. In 1845 he came to Chicago, where he died February 24,
1852, at the great age of one hundred and fifteen years, three months and
seventeen days. He was buried with military honors. June 14, 1894, a Grecian
cross was erected in Lincoln Park on the site of his burial place by a number
of Chicago pioneers and there has frequently been plans formed for the
erection of a monument to his memory by various societies. He was the last
surviving member of the Boston tea party.
Joseph G. Keniston, our subject's father, was born in Sheffield, Vt., October
17, 1798. After his marriage to Sally Glidden, a native of Sheffield, he
engaged in farming, in connection with which he also owned and operated a
sawmill. In 1854 he removed to Illinois and settled on the site of our
subject's farm, buying one-half section of land. Here he remained for ten
years. He then removed to Aurora, Ill., in order to give his children the
advantages of good schools. In that city he died in June, 1867. During the
existence of the Whig party he voted for its candidates, and after it
disintegrated he became a Republican. In religion he was of the Baptist faith.
In his family there were eleven children, only three of whom are living, viz.:
Emeline, widow of William Urie, of Minneapolis, Minn.; Hiram B., of Lents,
Ore.; and Jerry.
At the old homestead in Sheffield, Vt., the subject of this article was born
March 2, 1829. His education was largely self-acquired, although he had the
advantage of study in common schools and a term in St. Johnsbury Academy.
After teaching school for one term, in 1851 he went to Massachusetts, and for
three years was employed in the vicinity of Boston. He joined his parents in
Illinois shortly after their removal west and spent some months in this
county, after which he was employed by a dairy company in St. Louis for a
year. In the fall of 1858 he went to York state and was married, in Pike,
Wyoming County, November 30, to Miss Martha A. Tiffany, who died January 24,
1862. In 1860 he returned to this county and settled on an eighty-acre tract,
which now forms a part of his farm of two hundred and forty acres.
In the fall of 1862 Mr. Keniston enlisted in Company H, One Hundredth Illinois
Infantry, and went to the front. Soon after his enlistment he was made second
lieutenant of his company and at the close of the war held a captain's
commission. He took part in every battle in which his regiment was engaged
until the engagement at Chickamauga, where he was captured and taken to Libby
prison. He was held a prisoner for seven months and was then removed farther
south. March 2, 1865, he was released at Wilmington, N. C., and proceeded to
Benton Barracks, St. Louis, where he reported for duty. He was honorably
discharged May 15. Returning home he resumed farm work. He is a member of H.
B. Godard Post No. 736, G. A. R., of Manhattan, and since 1897 has served as
commander of the post. He is also a member of the lodge of Patrons of
Husbandry in Manhattan.
February 21, 1866, occurred the marriage of Mr. Keniston to Miss Martha Lynde,
who was born in Williamstown, Vt., a daughter of John and Dolly (Smith) Lynde.
She is a descendant, it is supposed, of Benjamin Lynde, mentioned by Brancroft
in history, who came with a number of prominent men from England and settled
in Massachusetts about 1630. The name of Lynde is inseparably associated with
the business and public affairs of Williamstown. Hon. John Lynde, father of
Mrs. Keniston, was born in Williamstown in 1810 and at the age of sixteen
began to teach, which occupation he followed in the winter, working on the
farm during summer months. In 1832 he married Dolly Smith, who died in 1881.
They were the parents of twelve children, nine of whom are living, viz.:
Ellen, Mrs. W. Bass, of Ottawa, Kans.; John, Jr., of Williamstown; Martha;
Rebecca, Mrs. Nathaniel Simons, of Princeton, Ill.; George W.; James K.;
Laura, Mrs. H. L. Cheney, of Williamstown; Emma, wife of Dr. William B. Mayo,
of Northfield; and Dr. Cornelius V., of Northfield, Minn. Mr. Lynde was a
farmer until 1865, after which he engaged in trade until 1887 and then resumed
farming. He was often called upon to settle estates and was a general
counselor in business and legal matters. For more than two generations he was
one of the directors of the Northfield, and later of the Barre Bank. First a
Whig, then a Republican, he was active in each party in turn. For forty-four
consecutive years he served as justice of the peace. In 1876 he was elected
statesenator, and for two terms he was assistant judge of the county court.
His name will long be remembered in Williamstown as that of a public-spirited
and benevolent citizen. His father, Cornelius Lynde, left Harvard College at
the opening of the Revolutionary war and enlisted in the Continental army, in
which he rose to the rank of major. In 1786 he moved from Williamstown, Mass.,
to the town of the same name in Vermont, and was one of the original
proprietors of the new settlement. He assisted in the allotment of land to his
associates, was justice of the peace, the first town clerk, and from 1791 to
1795 served as representative to the legislature, later was a member of the
state council and for two years associate judge. In the first year of the
century, at a meeting in his house, a Universalist society was organized,
believed to be the earliest in the state. His wife was the eldest daughter of
Col. Jacob Davis, the pioneer of Montpelier. Several of his sons became
influential business men.
The head of the Lynde family, since the death of Mrs. Keniston's father, who
died in 1896, is John Lynde. Jr., who was born in 1835, came to Will County in
1856, and there listened to one of the joint debates between Lincoln and
Douglass during the memorable campaign of 1858. During the war he served as
commissary sergeant, regimental quartermaster with the rank of lieutenant, and
on staff duty. From 1870 to 1877 he was a clerk in the postoffice department
in Washington, since which time he has resided in Williamstown, his early
home. One of his brothers, Charles, also served for three years in the Union
army; he died in 1874. Another brother, George W., born in 1848, owns a fine
farm of three hundred and seventy-five acres at Williamstown, and has many
other important interests. He is vice-president of the Barre National Bank; in
1888 served in the house of representatives and is at present state senator.
He is a half-owner of the grist, saw and polishing mill at Mill Village, which
is the most important industry in that town. James K. Lynde, another brother
of Mrs. Keniston, was born in 1842, and is a wealthy business man of
Williamstown, owning a large store there. He is also a member of the
Williamstown Granite Company, a stock-holder in the Construction Company, and
a part owner of the Monument House.
Just prior to the breaking out of the Civil war Miss Lynde was a student in
Barre Academy. The faculty received a request to send a competent teacher to
Alabama and asked her to accept the position. In February, 1860, she went
south and began the work of an instructor. On the breaking out of hostilities
she was importuned to remain, but feeling it was not safe for her there she
decided to come north. June 3, 1861, she started for Illinois and joined a
sister in Will County. Soon afterward she was engaged to teach in the
Wilmington schools. Later she taught the Wilton Center school. In 1864 she
went to Racine, Wis., where she taught for one year, then returned to Vermont
and was married to Mr. Keniston at the old homestead. Of their union ten
children were born, seven now living. The two oldest, Henry C. and John L.,
are engaged in business in Chicago as dealers in paints, oils and wall paper,
the former being in the suburb of Englewood, while the latter is at No. 194
Twenty-second street. Laura A. from childhood showed a decided musical talent
and was given excellent advantages, graduating from the musical conservatory
at Pottsdam, N. Y. She is now a teacher of vocal music and physical culture in
Olean, N. Y., public schools. The other members of the family are Herbert, of
Chicago; Carroll, on the home farm; Raymond, in Oklahoma; and Daisy, a student
in the local schools.
Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900
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